Sleeping Our Way to the Top

In her new book, SHIFT FOR GOOD: Simple Changes for Lasting Joy Inside and Out (on sale 9/15/15), Tory Johnson, Good Morning America contributor and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Shift, shares the remarkable impact that simple changes have made for her both personally and professionally. Below, she describes the inspiration gained from prioritizing sleep and “disconnecting.”

Ever since I watched Arianna Huffington’s 2010 TED Talk “How to succeed? Get more sleep,” I’ve made a conscious decision to go to bed earlier. While falling asleep and staying asleep aren’t problems, it takes considerable effort to change my routine. I haven’t yet gotten the nerve to follow Arianna’s lead in making my bedroom an iPhone-free space, but I have made myself put down my phone for the night by 10 p.m., without worrying about whether or not I’ll miss texts or random emails.

While it takes a period of acclimation, I ultimately realize that most of the texts from friends and colleagues are frivolous chitchat at best. I also learn to stop checking and refreshing my Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook feeds and admit to myself that the photos of people and their kids or their food aren’t late-night critical. I wean myself from an addictive word game on my phone, which in some ways is the hardest nighttime habit to break. The Scrabble-like game is a mini obsession and each time I fail to beat my highest score, I am compelled to go for one more round because of my crazy competitive nature. From now on, sleep is the score I choose to keep.

For years, Peter slept peacefully next to me for hours before I drifted off. With this new routine, more often than not, we shut the lights off at the same time. When I get my ideal eight hours, I generally wake up feeling well rested, which results in my having more energy and being in a better mood. I’m less likely to snap at Peter or the world. That may sound painfully obvious, but it never was to me. As Arianna says, “When everyone gets enough sleep they make better decisions, which makes for a better world.”

I pull it off most nights, with the exception of Wednesdays because I wake up particularly early on Thursdays for Good Morning America. And sometimes getting enough sleep when I’m on the road with a packed schedule is hard. The same is probably true for anyone with a baby or a particularly grueling work schedule. Even so, getting enough sleep now becomes a priority. It joins a growing list of practices I once dismissed but now embrace.

Some experts say that your bed should be for only two activities: sex and sleeping. I won’t go that far, but if you pooh-pooh the importance of sleep as I once did, I encourage you to rethink the way you prepare for bed. To get more shut-eye, work backwards: If your wake‑up time has little to no wiggle room, start there and count back eight hours to determine your ideal bedtime. If possible, begin to wind down an hour or even two hours earlier. Turn off the computer, put away your phone, lower the volume on the TV (or turn it off completely), and dim the lights.

Don’t read or watch anything that’s likely to agitate you or get your mind racing—no dire news reports or scary movies. New sheets and pillows may be a great investment if you’re not already comfortable in your bed. My friend Cindy swears by spritzing lavender scent on her pillow, long thought to support better sleep. Our neighbor Stan has a small sound machine by his bed that replicates ocean and rain-forest noises that put him to sleep; he purchased it after a doctor told him that his habit of popping Ambien had to stop. We all have to figure out what works best for each of us. Check out Arianna’s funny speech online. I provide a link to it at toryjohnson.com. Then join me in bed.

Shift for Good is the follow up to Tory Johnson book “The Shift”, the book she wrote describing her incredible journey losing weight.

Shift for Good explores how after the incredible success she discovered in losing weight, although yes she looked great, her health was the best it had ever been, and many empowering things had come from this success, she still felt that something was missing. She expected more from her shift, she just did not know what.

In Shift for Good Tory explores that shifting on the outside is not enough. She needed to shift on the inside too. She needed to not only be happy with her outside appearance and happy in her own skin, but she also needed to be happy on the inside.

Shift for Good was very easy to read and to relate too. It captures your attention right from the beginning.

Tory helps you find your own path by telling you her journey, and it helps to realize you are not alone. She celebrates life, family, love, and all the simple successes that help us find contentment in our daily lives.

There was one particular paragraph that I found empowering.

“If the story we tell ourselves is one of inadequacy,of never being enough, of never having enough, then that becomes our reality. But if we believe that we are fabulous and that we are indeed enough in all ways, and that we have enough, then that is the life we live.”

When you read Shift for Good, it gives you that feeling like you are talking to a close friend. Tory is very down to earth and you end up saying to yourself; wow I have always tried to put these feelings and emotions into words and it is done here in her book, Shift for Good.

I havent had the opportunity to read Tory’s first book, The Shift, but it is definitely one I want to as soon as possible.

Disclosure: MomMomOnTheGo was provided product for the purpose of conducting this review. As always, MomMomOnTheGo only supports companies, products and services that she supports.